Arkansas university president talks Trump meeting, photo of Conway kneeling

President Donald Trump, right, meets with leaders of historically black colleges and universities in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Also at the meeting are White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, left, and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, on the couch.
President Donald Trump, right, meets with leaders of historically black colleges and universities in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Also at the meeting are White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, left, and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, on the couch.

Philander Smith College President Roderick Smothers and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff President Laurence Alexander were among the historically black college and university leaders that met with President Donald Trump and his staff Monday.

The two spent Monday and Tuesday in meetings with White House and government officials, which culminated in a new executive order aimed at helping HBCUs across the nation.

Smothers said Trump’s advisers spoke to the university leaders about their commitment to HBCUs and said they seemed informed.

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“They had clearly done their homework on our institutions,” he said.

Smothers said there were “mixed feelings” from some in his group about whether government officials really listened to what the leaders had to say, but said his “gut instinct” was that they paid attention.

“They seemed genuinely interested in the agenda for HBCUs,” Smothers said.

A photo from the meeting that showed White House adviser Kellyanne Conway kneeling on an Oval Office couch was widely circulated on social media.

Smothers said Conway’s position on the couch didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. “I didn’t even know it had occurred until I saw the photo."

He said context was key in understanding her position; Conway had taken that perch to snap a photo.

Smothers pointed out that visitors couldn’t take their own cameras into the Oval Office.

Far more important that Conway’s sitting habits, he said, was the fact that more than 80 HBCU leaders gathered to speak to the president, which Smothers said hadn’t happened in about 25 years.

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